Keeping Energy Bills Low during cold weather

15 Practical Ways to Beat the Cold without inflating your energy bills

Cold weather and inflated energy bills tend to go hand in hand for most households.

Sometimes we are fooled into thinking that when Christmas is over, the evening get longer and the weather gets better however in recent years some of the coldest weather we have experienced happened from January right through to April.

Below we look at 15 ways to counter the cold weather whilst keeping your energy to a minimum.

1: Eco Panel Heaters: These wall mounted slimline panels are a great way to take the chill out of a room without paying your energy provider through the nose. These panels only consume 400 Watt of energy per hour when in full heating mode (approx 7 cent). Compares very favourably to traditional fan or water filled electric heaters which use about 2000 Watt per hour (approx 35 cent)

2: Radfan: Placed on top of your radiators the Radfan helps you to maximise your energy usage by blowing the warm air from the hot rads into the centre of the room. Essentially this means that your room will reach a comfortable temperature faster and maintain the heat level longer. Comes in three different models to suit all room sizes.

 

3: Electric Hot Water Bottle: Anyone that has burned their hand accidently whilst filling a hot water bottle with boiling water from the kettle will appreciate this product. Heats up in just 15 minutes and will maintain a warm heating level for six hours or more

 

4: Chimney Balloon: Blocks cold draughts entering your room through an unused fireplace and ensures heat is better retained in the room. Can make a remarkable difference in a room.

 

5: Window Glazing Film: This Irish made product is the most cost effective way to add a secondary insulation layer to your windows and help lower heating costs. Comes in three pack sizes up to 9 meters squared (6m x 1.5m)

 

6: Heat Powered Stove Fan: Another Irish product the Smartfan heat powered stove fan spreads the heat created by your stove directly into the room as opposed to heating your ceiling ensuring your room heats up faster and you lower fuel costs. Four different models to suit wood burning stoves, gas stoves or soapstoves.

 

7: Firewood Moisture Meter: Accurately detects the moisture level in your firewood. If moisture content is greater than 18% it affects the burning process and much of the energy your wood creates is wasted on heating the water vapour in the log rather than heating your home. Also helps to prevent creosote which can damage your stove and cause chimney fires.

 

8: Underdoor Draught Excluders / Door Brush Strips : Helps you to retain heat in room better and prevent cold draught entering rooms from under the doors. The underdoor draught excluder is usually the better option to place on a floor surface and the brush strips if you have a carpet surface.

 

9: Letterbox Draught Excluders: Having a whole in the middle of your door sure isn’t the way to go when you are trying to keep warm and your energy bills low. By fitting these brush draught excluders with an internal flap you will go a long way towards sorting this problem out.

 

10: Draught Excluder Rubber Seal / Self Adhesive Foam : Designed to address draught issues arising from gaps in floorboards and window and door seals. Also great for eliminating rattling noises from windows and doors.

 

11: Radiator Reflective Foil: Fits in behind any type of radiator and leads to the heat being reflected by into the room instead of being lost through the wall.

 

12: Grate Saver: A product which featured on the Irish Dragons Den in 2014 the grate saver helps to preserve the lifetime of a grate plate and prevents small fuel particles from failing between the grate which means the fuel is wasted. Comes in rectangular shape for fireplaces or round shape for stoves.

 

13: Frostwatcher: Great for protecting your pipes from the cold weather the frost watcher uses just 200 Watt energy when in full heating mode (about 3.5 cent per hour). Ideal for indoor or outdoor use. Popular in attics, lofts, greenhouses, garages and workshops.

 

14: Pingi Dehumidifier: The cold weather can lead to dampness issues, the built up of mould and leave your clothes with a horrible musty odour. Plug in dehumidifier can be expensive to run and some of the non electric options will sometimes only last a few days in damp conditions before they are fit to throw out. The Pingi however can be recharged and reused many times over by simply popping into the microwave for a few minutes when it has done all the work it can do.

 

15: Logmaker: Earlier we spoke about letterboxes essentially being a hole in the middle of the door which encourages heat loss. Sometimes what comes through the letterboxes is junk mail and something you will never read. With a logmaker you can make some use out of the junk mail by converting it in long lasting paper bricks you can burn. The logs made by this logmaker can be burned instantly. Others require you to wait a few weeks for them to dry.